(CNN) – Nearly half of American Mormons say they face a lot of discrimination in the United States, though most also say that acceptance of their religion is on the rise, according to a major survey released Thursday.

The survey also found that a large majority of American Mormons think their countrymen are uninformed about their religion and don’t see Mormons as part of mainstream society, even as most Mormons also say the country is ready for a Mormon president.

“The survey creates a mixed picture for how Mormons see themselves,” said Greg Smith, senior researcher with the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, which conducted the study. “On the one hand, many tell us they’re misunderstood and often discriminated against, recognizing the challenges of acceptance.

“But Mormons also seem to think that things are changing, that more Americans are coming to see Mormonism as mainstream,” he said.

The survey comes amid what has been called a “Mormon moment.”

Two of the Republican presidential candidates – Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman – attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The religion has also cropped up in big ways in popular culture, from the hit Broadway play “Book of Mormon” to the recent HBO series “Big Love,” about a fundamentalist Mormon family.

Mormons constitute about 2% of the American population.

The Pew survey found that 46% of American Mormons say they face a lot of discrimination in the U.S. today, while six in 10 say their fellow Americans as a whole are uninformed about the LDS Church.

Two-thirds of Mormons say their fellow citizens do not view Mormonism as part of mainstream American society.

At the same time, 63% of Mormons say Americans are “becoming more likely to see Mormonism as part of mainstream society,” in the words of the survey report, while 56% say the country is ready for a Mormon president.

There are some surprising parallels between how Mormons feel about their place in American society and how Muslims do, according to an earlier Pew survey.

"We do see a remarkable degree of similarity about what it's like to be a minority in society," Smith said. "They are under no illusions" about how the broader public currently feels about them, and know their religions are not widely understood, but they remain optimistic at heart, he said.

They recognize the challenges, "but both groups are relentlessly positive about their future in the United States," said Luis Lugo, the director of the Pew Forum.

As Romney’s and Huntsman’s ability to win evangelical votes in the approaching South Carolina presidential primary has become a major question in the presidential campaign, the Pew survey finds that half of Mormons believe that evangelical Christians are unfriendly toward them.

In fact, Mormon and evangelical political opinions match closely on almost everything except immigration, the survey found. (Mormons are much more likely than evangelicals or the U.S. population overall to see immigrants as making a positive contribution to society, said David Campbell of the University of Notre Dame, who helped advise the Pew Forum on the survey.)

Mormons also subscribe to key tenets of mainstream Christianity, despite the sense many evangelicals have that Mormons are not Christians. Previous Pew surveys show that about half of white evangelicals say Mormonism is not a Christian faith.

"Nearly all Mormons say they believe Jesus rose from the dead and that Mormonism is a Christian religion," Smith said.

But the Mormon-evangelical divide is not simply one of theology, a leading evangelical said.

"Evangelicals are - famously or infamously, depending on your perspective - very evangelistic," said Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention. "And so Mormons are out there going door-to-door trying to convince folks to become Mormons, and evangelicals are out there going door-to-door trying to convince people to become evangelicals."

By comparison, most Mormons said that Americans who are not religious are either neutral or friendly toward them.

Mormons and evangelicals are politically similar, the survey found, with three-quarters of Mormons saying they identify with or lean toward the Republican Party.

And the survey showed that Mormons are more devout in their faith than evangelicals, who are more devout that the public at large.

Three-quarters of Mormons report attending religious services at least weekly, while eight in 10 pray daily and give 10% of their income to their church.

The Pew Forum says the nationwide survey, conducted in October and November, constitutes the biggest survey of American Mormons conducted by an organization that’s not connected to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

soundoff(1,639 Responses)

landon

Luv it. Book of Mormon is not the bible, but now this is okay?

January 12, 2012 at 3:03 pm |

Balls McGhee

i have nothing against Mormons or any one else who believes in any other religion. I am an atheist yet i can respect your points of view. However, dont cry "bigotry" when you lead Prop 8 in trying to ban gay marriage. that is the Pot calling the Kettle black. Shame on you who were involved in this act of bigotry.

January 12, 2012 at 3:02 pm |

Joe B

Do Mormons still believe what Brigham Young taught about 10 foot tall men who could fly that lived on the Moon?

January 12, 2012 at 3:02 pm |

Joe B

Also we should ask why Mormons discriminated against black people until 1980

January 12, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

James

Not only that, we should see why the discriminate against non-mormons who live in mormon territory to this day.

January 12, 2012 at 3:01 pm |

Joe B

I would also like to know what happened to the golden plates, the Liahonna, and the Urim and the Thummin after Joe Smith was done using them

January 12, 2012 at 2:58 pm |

James

They are probably next to the star Kolob where God lives.

January 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm |

J. Crobuzon

The Angel Moron took them back to heaven. It's almost as if they never existed at all, isn't it?

January 12, 2012 at 4:38 pm |

Jerry

The definition of bigotry has surely grown in the past few years. Seem like anytime you disagree with someone's lifestyle, speach or choices you're labeled a bigot.

January 12, 2012 at 2:55 pm |

Aveda

You just defined bigotry.

January 12, 2012 at 2:57 pm |

Balls McGhee

Jerry, i believe the refusal to accepts someones lifestyle and choices is the very definition of bigotry.

January 12, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

Matt

When you hate people who are different from you and try to prevent them from living freely, you are a bigot. Saying that your brand of bigotry isn't hate but "family values" is just a cop-out.

January 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm |

Kelli

No, Aveda, in that case then everyone would be a bigot. Do you agree with the beliefs of everyone or every group of people in the world? No! No one does. I believe bigotry involves how you act and treat those who you don't agree with. Even if you don't accept someone's beliefs doesn't mean you can't have respect for them as a person. If you want to define bigotry as not believing what other people do than all of the people commenting about how intolerant and how strange mormons are would also have to be labeled as bigots.

January 12, 2012 at 3:03 pm |

J. Crobuzon

Disagree? How about when you go a step further and say "All X are Y?" I disagree with a lot of people, but I don't hate them. Sounds as if you might be pretty close to bigotry yourself.

January 12, 2012 at 4:40 pm |

Kelli

Not sure who you are referring to in your comment, J. Crobuzon. The original poster said nothing of hate. The only two that brought that word into the picture are you and Matt.

January 12, 2012 at 6:05 pm |

Adam

I like Mormons.

January 12, 2012 at 2:52 pm |

Susana

I grew up in Latin America (Dominican Republic) in the 70s and 80s and I recall seeing all those clean young Mormons in our little village. We all liked them. I have nothing but a good impression of Mormons. I would take a white Mormon anytime instead of the atheist/sort-of-Christian joke we currently have in the White House. Latinos like family values. If Romney stresses that in his campaing, Latinos would vote for him in droves.

January 12, 2012 at 2:52 pm |

N1ck

"Atheist and sort-of-christian" are quite different concepts, would be beneficial for you to learn the difference. Also, the concept of 'family values' isn't the exclusive domain of religious persons/organizations.

January 12, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

Balls McGhee

atheists are pretty cool. all the ones i know have great family values. they just dont pretend it came from God.

January 12, 2012 at 3:01 pm |

landon

I am confused. Why do you think that the present president does not have family values?

January 12, 2012 at 3:02 pm |

Matt

I do feel a tiny bit sorry for them because most of the people who ridicule them live by a different set of ridiculous, illogical, contradictory beliefs and really have no room to talk, but on the other hand the Mormon church is a whole different breed of silly nonsense that would require a very loose grasp on reality and years of brainwashing to see as anything but a fraud. Still, believe what you want, I don't care if you worship the spaghetti monster but stop trying to force me to believe in him as well through nonsense, unamerican laws.

January 12, 2012 at 2:52 pm |

test

cry

January 12, 2012 at 2:53 pm |

Julie

I remember when friends of my family converted to Mormonism years ago. When their own mother did not convert, they put her in a nursing home and disowned her. Sound like a group you want to have in the White House? Not.

January 12, 2012 at 2:51 pm |

Chris

Yes because one family = millions of mormons. Grow up.

January 12, 2012 at 2:58 pm |

Hey

Wow, they reproduce that quickly?

January 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm |

StevO

How about the fact that 100% of non-Mormons are discriminated against by Mormons? I can't walk into their temple, can I?

January 12, 2012 at 3:03 pm |

j

Just because a religion doesn't permit non-members to enter into a holy place, doesnt mean it's discriminatory. And julie, you're saying that because one Mormon family did that, the entire religion does that? Seriously?

January 12, 2012 at 3:21 pm |

Skeptical

I feel bad for anyone who is discriminated against. Hate drives us apart. Love brings us together. But apart from that I don't really think that any of this Mormon stuff matters as it regards Mitt Romney.

I believe that it is a ploy, either by his platform or just the media in general, to get something to focus on. That way when we think GOP candidate we think about Romney being Mormon. Regardless of whether or not the spin on his religion is positive or negative it is still getting him attention, almost undeservedly. The other GOP candidates seem to be already counted out even though the nomination has not been given yet all because the media is focusing on how we could have our first Mormon president. Yes it is interesting but I don't believe that it is relevant enough to merit the attention it has given him.

January 12, 2012 at 2:51 pm |

SevenVeils

Discrimination makes for perfection. Having Discriminating views is a valid basis of judgement of human behavior, characteristics and fashion statements.

January 12, 2012 at 2:53 pm |

Balls McGhee

applies to Obama being labeled a Muslim, even though he isnt one.

January 12, 2012 at 3:04 pm |

James

In my experience, Mormons are generally good, decent people. However any church that claims to be God's "one and only true church" is bound to be obnoxious on some level. Also, unlike many other churches, the Mormon church keeps its finances a secret, which I think id a huge red flag.

January 12, 2012 at 2:51 pm |

joe

Twice a year, the Mormon church presents a financial report to its members, and they are assured where their money is going–educating young people, emergency relief worldwide, welfare assistance worldwide, and building funds, etc. Nobody in the clergy receives a dime for their service, and that includes the president of the church on down. They live in modest homes; much more so than a lot of members.

January 12, 2012 at 3:11 pm |

James

Mormons profess to be Christians but they in fact worship a completely different God than Christians. Here are a few of the beliefs of Mormons:

The book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible, (History of the Church, 4:461).

Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).

A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the Father and Satan offered a plan to the father but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to "deny men their agency and to dethrone god," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 193; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 8).

After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345-347, 354.)

If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation [the context is the full gospel including exaltation to Godhood] outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 670).

January 12, 2012 at 2:49 pm |

Chris

Well put, James. Thanks for providing valid citations. Mormons do in fact believe that their church is "the one true church". Also, if Mormons feel put upon or discriminated against they should be a non-Mormon and try living in Utah for a few years.

January 12, 2012 at 3:02 pm |

LMB123

I do not see how any of the things you said show that we believe in a "different" God. We believe in the same God you do, we just happen to have more information about him than you do.

January 12, 2012 at 3:05 pm |

Chris

The book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible, (History of the Church, 4:461).

- seeing how many times the Bible has been translated, its not hard to understand. It holds the same gospel, but the bible has been incorrectly translated. Hense the Book of Mormon is more correct. It doesn't inply that the Bible is incorrect unless it was translated incorrectly.

Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).

- So where else did Satan come from? Just appeared?

A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the Father and Satan offered a plan to the father but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to "deny men their agency and to dethrone god," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 193; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 8).

- This is true. I don't see how this is something that is bad. It is how Satan became Satan.

- Modern revelation will reveal stuff not found in the Bible. Funny how God works the same yesterday today and FOREVER.

After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345-347, 354.)

- This is logical if you think about it. The purpose of Earth is to gain experience and knowledge. Our Heavenly Father wants us to progress eternally. What do you expect we do when we die. Sit in heaven watching football? No, if we are worthy, we can have eternal progression. That includes godhood.

If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation [the context is the full gospel including exaltation to Godhood] outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 670).

- This is a half truth. Everyone will be given the chance to accept the gospel. If you don't accept it here on earth, you will be given a chance in the Spirit World. If you reject it here on earth... that is your chance (you can have multiple chances on earth). God is fair. He isn't going to deny someone salvation because of where they live or where they are. And the thing about Joseph Smith needed for salvation. This is not true. If there was no Joseph Smith, God would have picked another. The gospel doesn't hinge on any person other than Christ. Anyone else who tells you otherwise is not telling you the truth.

If you really want to learn about Mormons, stop going to Anti-mormon sites because I know that is where you got your "info".

January 12, 2012 at 3:08 pm |

test

@Chris

Salvation on earth does not require Joseph Smiths Golden Tablets.

January 12, 2012 at 3:13 pm |

Chris

@test Never said it did. And yes I see you posting that everywhere. Stop spreading hate.

January 12, 2012 at 3:14 pm |

test

@Chris
I am spreading hate? Really? You are afraid of that comments merits.

You need to wake up.

January 12, 2012 at 3:17 pm |

Chris

No. You are just spreading information of which you really know nothing about. And you post is like it is spam like it deserves more attention that it warrants.

And yes you are spreading hate. You are certainly not spreading love or understanding.

January 12, 2012 at 3:23 pm |

test

@Chris

"You are just spreading information of which you really know nothing about."

This comment comes across like a confession of angst atop of already being Ignorant and a childish slam. You don't know anything about me.

"And yes you are spreading hate. You are certainly not spreading love or understanding."

this is silly, i am spreading hate simply because i am not spreading love or understanding? You need to get in touch with the truth. I am spreading knowledge about salvation, and how it does not require Joseph Smiths golden tablets. You are obviously the one 'hating' reality.

January 12, 2012 at 3:29 pm |

dave

JMM
Plenty of windows in every church building I have ever been in. Come check it out. Sounds like you will be pleasntly surprised

January 12, 2012 at 2:49 pm |

Wendy

There's some irony in a group that is totally bigoted toward gays and their civil rights complaining about bigotry.

January 12, 2012 at 2:46 pm |

Phil

And there is irony when people who are bigoted against someone's beliefs accuse them of bigotry. The definition being: intolerance of a belief or viewpoint that differs from your own.

January 12, 2012 at 2:53 pm |

SevenVeils

And you forgot until recently this "church" banned black humans from joining their congregation because as the church doctrine stated, "Blacks (actual description may be offensive) are sub-human."

January 12, 2012 at 2:55 pm |

Aveda

Well at least the Mormons are getting a taste of what gay Americans have to put up with in the Christian Evangelical religion. And yet the Mormons turn around and do record fundraising for the California Proposition 8 referendum targeting the gay community. Their cries of discrimination fall on deaf ears to anyone with 2 or more brain cells.

January 12, 2012 at 2:55 pm |

Chris

We are against the act, not the people. Funny how blind people can't see that. Too busy hating on us.

I laugh at the cyphering the golden tablets. One would think the all mighty God would have done that to prevent human mistakes as it was done with the two stone tablets. Special glasses (which have since disappeared and golden tablets returned under a rock in what was once a wild part of America are soooooo Scifi – just like the theology of Scientology. Hey, come to think of it, both of these cult founders were failed writers of SCIENCE FICTION!

January 12, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

StevO

Don't forget Joseph Smith literally sold snake oil until he came up with the Mormon idea. Suckers!

January 12, 2012 at 3:04 pm |

Chris

@SevenVeils - where are 10 commandment tablets? Where is the holy grail? where is the arc of the covenant? God sometimes takes things so we can show faith. If we have it all... we have no faith.

@StevO - So he was selling snake oil at 14? lol oooo so sneaky. How about you actually learn something about us. Real truthful stuff.

January 12, 2012 at 3:13 pm |

cenizas

Im a Mormon. I don't really feel discriminated against, but after reading so many of these posts, it's not hard to to see why some Mormons do feel that way. Anyone reading these comments can see that the majority of them denigrating. I for one, can totally understand why some of you feel the way you to towards Mormons. Some of our doctrines are difficult to grasp and require significant faith to follow. Most of you who harbor ill feelings towards our church do so because you have "researched" Mormonism by Googling "Mormon" and reading information that is intended to cultivate bad feelings about us. You get your information from people whose posts start with phrases like "I think that. . . " or "I heard that. . . ". Why not actually read the Book of Mormon, look at our web page, or talk with a Mormon? You take information at face value from sources that you have no knowledge of. The bottom line is that most of you are ignorant about our religion. I don't mean that in any harsh way, it is just blatantly obvious that most of your comments are regurgitated from someone else that has hatred for our religion. It's like the old telephone game. The further and further these little stories go, the more distorted the information is. As for me, Im grateful for the many, many non Mormon friends I have that have chosen to treat me according to their own experiences with me. I think most of them view me as a regular guy who loves his wife, loves his family, loves our God, loves our country and screws up like the rest of us while trying as hard as possible to do the right thing.

January 12, 2012 at 2:45 pm |

SevenVeils

Sorry, One only has to read the book of moroni to realized the foolishness of moron's beliefs.

January 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm |

McJefferson

As a Christian I can say I have thoroughly researched Mormon doctrine (yes I have been to Mormon dot org) and it is not hard to grasp. In fact upon looking at Moron doctrine it quickly becomes obvious that Mormonism is not and cannot be Christianity. Mormonism uses the mask that it is Christian but when one examines Mormon doctrine and compares it with actual Christian doctrine it is clear they are fundamentally different. Have you ever done any research into Christianity and compared it to what you believe? I suggest trying... oh and not the same type of "research" you condemn.

January 12, 2012 at 3:17 pm |

Chris

@McJefferson And how are we not Christians? Because we don't conform to what MEN say Christians are? We worship Christ. To me that is the only requirement for being Christian, not some man enforced rule. Give me a break.

January 12, 2012 at 3:20 pm |

cenizas

Yes, I have researched many other Christian churches. I have read the Bible (the King James version), I have attended services of Catholics, Pentecostals, non-denominational Christians, and Baptists. I'd consider them all the be "Christian" churches. Though I would consider all of them Christians, it also wasn't hard to notice the dramatic differences between all of them. Ive seen everything from folks rolling on the floor speaking in tongues, I saw a guy get baptized for the 4th time in the middle of a sermon while wearing some coveralls from a mechanics office, a highly adorned chapel filled with graven images, rock bands, people waving their arms back and forth shouting "Amens", and Ive seen people miraculously healed on television after a pastor laid hands on his head and threw him into the audience. Despite all these differences and wild occurrences, they all try their best to follow Christ. Good for them! Every person that invited me to their church were great people with great families. I love all of them! Really though, I could care less whether or not we are called Christians. It's just a definition, and everyone has their own definition of what that means. I think most people would agree that the origin of the term "Christian" represented someone who believed in Jesus Christ as the son of God and followed his teachings. We certainly believe that Christ is the savior of all mankind, the redeemer of the earth, and the on begotten son of God. We also try our best to follow the teachings of Christ as proclaimed in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. If you don't want to call us Christians, that is fine by me. Any label put on me by one of my peers means nothing to me. Im more motivated by how Im viewed by my Father in Heaven.

January 13, 2012 at 11:21 am |

Rocinante

I am sure that this survey was given to mostly Utah Mormons who have never experienced real discrimination in their life. But also are completely intolerant to outsiders even to other Mormons who move to the state. Living in California which has the 2nd largest Mormon population in the US, I have never felt any discrimination because of my religion. However, I have realized that it takes more than a bowl of green Jell-o and a brisk walk to church to resolve many life problems and make a stand for right. To that end, as a California Mormon, I decided that I would not allow one group of people to alter the traditional basic structure of human society.

The shear magnitude of ignorance and bigotry displayed on this forum is not only incredibly disturbing, it proves exactly the point of the article.

January 12, 2012 at 2:44 pm |

Ryan

I grew up in a small town that was predominantly LDS (mormon). Based on my childhood and early adult experiences...I can say I have little respect for the LDS religion and the bigotry and discrimination of it's followers. (However, the following can be said of most religions and their closed minded, blindly following, uneducated sheep).

I was often mistreated because I was not LDS and of my friends who were LDS, their parents dissaproved of any association with me, based solely on religion....forget that I was a straight A student that didnt get in trouble....somehow I was a bad seed based solely on religion.

Te majority of the LDS people in the town I grew up were not only bigots because of religion, but were also racist against, blacks and mexicans.

January 12, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

dave

I can appreciate the fact that members of other faiths sometimes feel isolated in an LDS dominated society. So much of our lives revolve around the church activities that there is often little time for other social activities. That is one unfortunate side effect that I personally am trying to change. Sundays are filled up with family and church, Mondays are reserved for family night, Tuesdays there is Cub scouts, Wednesday is youth night, service projects etc and family duties take up a lot of time. Just a family of 15+ with inlaws etc monopolizes a lot of time. Just know that the feeling of being isolated is not intentional. May I make a suggestion: I live in a neighborhood almost all LDS. There is a fine Catholic familiy in our midst. The husband especially jumps in with our service projects, helps with Boy Scouts, serves the city etc. We love this family very much and respect their faith-filled belief system. Though there are some goof-balls that make stupid comments from time to time, we find common ground with this brother of another faith and build upon those common values and beliefs. We hope someday he will join us but we aren't about disparage or bug him about his beliefs. He stands up for what he believes and everyone I know respects and loves him for it.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.